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After you’ve read this, you will go to the cinema of your choice and get a ticket for tonight’s screening of “Grand Budapest Hotel”.

In 2001 a young man made a masterpiece and opened a niche in mainstream cinema which –to this day– only he populates. The man was director Wes Anderson who at that time was 33 years old; and the film was “The Royal Tenenbaums” which was written by himself and Owen Wilson.

Wes Anderson is the bridge between Cannes and Hollywood.

There had been movies directed/written by Wes Anderson before, but Tenenbaums was probably his breakthrough into popular cinema and the key to a wider audience — maybe partly because of the popular actors (e.g. Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Gene Hackman,…) but mostly because of Wes’ charme — something that has won him many awards and even the most cynical critic’s praise ever since.

Fox voiced by George Clooney

Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot

Khaki Scout Sam

Fortunately, the success that came with it hasn’t really changed anything regarding Wes’ style: he has always remained true to his ambitions and never ceased to experiment. With his latest movie he goes –once again– entirely in the opposite direction that the rest of Hollywood is headed.

Everything you need you already have

In my last article I talked about the problems you face with presentations — now I want to show you a solution to many of those quarrelsome annoyances.

Just use this template, a simple text editor and run your slides in a Web Browser.

What does that look like?

Click through this demo presentation to get a feeling and a glimpse of what’s possible. Of course you don’t have to (and actually should not) implement everything that is shown here, but this demo covers many things most of you probably need.
Later, when making your own slides, you can open this demo (demo.html) in an editor and take ideas from it.

Abortion of the experiment

I am sorry to say it, but the experiment “Are Microwaves Really Deadly?” will be put to an end. It’s truly tragical, but almost all of the 84 little plants have died.

The cause of death is unknown, but I assume it was an attack of little fruit flies (Drosophila) that laid their eggs into the soil. The larvae hatched and roamed the earth to feast on anything in their way — and the only edible thing in their nursery were probably the weak and unprepared roots of my basil.

Sometimes I saw little insects coming up from the soil when I watered the pots — where there were many of those grazing creatures a few days later the plants fell down. They had lost their roots and were left to rot.

The Final Touch: Presentation

Like a magician, a true chef would never reveal this secret to anybody — but:
presentation is the most important aspect of cooking.

Arrange and organize everything on the plate as if it was a painting by your favorite painter (But beware: abstract art may not be a good example in this case).
Take at least as much time as you did preparing the food.

Use a camera or your phone to take good pictures from every angle. Put some effort in it. Restaurants do it as well — in fact, it’s the major reason why fast food like McDonald’s is so appealing.

Describe your dish with pompous words and in gastronomy jargon.
Extra points for the terms fresh, free-range, organic, whole grain as well as French words.

For demonstration purposes, (in addition to the meals in the former article) here is a simple dessert which everybody should be able to try at home:

Sushi Variations of Fresh Salmon

Avocado Ginger Tartare with Bread Chips and Cashew Nuts

Ingredients for a Great Meal

Many people think the most important things for cooking and baking are the ingredients and skills — this is not true at all!

The first thing you need is time — or else it won’t be fun.

If you have cooked fewer than 30 meals: use a recipe, please.
Preferably one with a high rating and good reviews.

Lastly, it helps to be hungry or to have people over who are
(confidence in your end result required).
It is advantageous if you can make other people help you with the cooking.

“Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

You should always remember this saying — because it does not apply if the other cooks are better than you.

Preparation (Easier Than You Think)

Stick to the recipe.

The mastery lies in containment, experimentation is for later.
However, if you really, really don’t like the taste of your result, you are allowed to do free-style. You may add as many ingredients as you like.